ON MULTIPLE CIRCULAR INCLUSIONS IN PLANE THERMOELASTICITY

A general series solution to the problem of interacting circular inclu sions in plane thermoelasticity is provided in this paper. Based upon the complex variable theory and the use of Laurent series expansion, t he general expression of the stress functions is derived explicitly fo r the circular inclusion problem under remote uniform heat flow. By ap plying the use of the superposition, the problem dealing with any numb er of arbitrarily located inclusions can be then reduced to a set of l inear algebraic equations which are solved with the aid of a perturbat ion technique. For illustrating the use of the present approach, an ap proximate closed form solution of the stress functions is derived expl icitly for the problem containing two arbitrarily located inclusions. Numerical results of the interfacial stresses around a rigid circular inclusion or hoop stress along a circular hole due to the presence of an elastic inclusion are provided to demonstrate the dependence of the solution upon the pertinent parameters. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd .